TOPIC: Champion Bastions Galore!

Well it's been an exciting week. I finally received my Bastion x 2 order, in addition to an all black Bastion I picked up on ebay. All 3 of them arrived on the same day and coincidentally my latest cosplay outfit. Haven't picked a name yet for myself, but the theme is Grey Jedi. Pics are below.

On to the review. The Bastions are nicely detailed and have good weight. No sharp edges and the line are spectacular. I'm not a fan of the retention screws + Allan Key to switch out the blades, so I picked up some brass thumbscrews in advanced. Cut them down to size and am using them instead. I find it adds some nice detail to the sabers as well. I asked for a black covertech knob for the 12V+ Blood Orange saber and silver for the 12V+ Blue to make it easier to distinguish. The Black is 12V+ white but has no sound. Blades are all of the 32 variety. Handling the sabers is great and they feel very comfortable in the hand. I also grabbed a staff coupler, but I didn't take a picture of it yet. I can say that the covertech knobs get in the way a bit for that setup. Lastly, the saber comes with the new Apprentice blade plugs + kill keys. They look great on this, although I wasn't originally a fan of the new kill keys.

The only issue I had with the sabers received from SaberForge was that the speakers rattled inside. Super annoying, but a quick fix is to get a pair of retaining ring pliers and move down the included c-ring. I also used this pair of pliers to add a c-ring to my Prodigal Son to stop the rattle, since it didn't come configured this way. Oh happy day

Lastly, here are a bunch of pics of the sabers in all their glory and some of me dressed up as well. Hope you enjoy.

Sweet haul ic3cold. I like that you went with the brass thumb screws for both retention screws. The finish on the dark bastion from ebay, did the seller mention the type of finish? (Powder-coated or anodized) Grey jedi costume looks sharp. Saw these on FB group, Saberkraft product.

=Ottomatix= wrote:
Cool thanks. I ordered the SF belt clips, but they did not arrive with the shipment. Although I like the way the sabers look tucked into the belt I'm trying to post some additional pics of the c-ring setup to stop the speaker rattle, as well as the staff configuration. I thought I had posted a reply, but maybe it needs to be approved (?).

My phone doesn't seem to be posting the reply with the additional pictures. Not sure if that's because a moderator needs to approve for mobile updates (?). Apologies if I double post. Here are some additional pictures of the c-ring setup, blade plug, thumbscrews and kill key, covertech knob and the staff configuration. Also, the black saber was anodized from what the listing said. I believe it went through Saber Customs before it closed.

When the saber arrived the c-ring was crooked. I pulled it out and put it back in level.


New blade plugs




Thumbscrews and new kill key. Use a vice grip + hacksaw to shorted the thumbscrew to the appropriate length.


Black covertech knob


Saberstaff


Saberstaff lit up

The covertech knobs are quite the nuisance in staff configuration.

=Ottomatix= wrote:
For sure. The nice thing about the thumbscrews is that the leftover retention screws can be used to fill in the holes left by the covertech knobs if you take them out.

I'm actually toying with an idea to move the black covertech knob from the butt of the hilt, to the LED retention screw. That way the saber hangs upside down (Darth Vader style). Then if the blade is installed, you can wear the Saber at your hip like a sword. We'll see...

Awesome Bastions! The costume is sweet and the staff is beautiful. Congrats ic3cold!

I've done that on my Disciple end of my staff. I found it was tedious to get the lenght of the socket head screw the proper lenght. Long enough to secure the LED module, and also short enough to snug the covertech knob to the hilt is tricky. Let me know if you would like to know how I finally got it to work. Just a heads up it took 3 screws to get it right.

beautiful staff just out of curiosity does the staff not line up perfectly, (buttons wise) when configuring it into the staff?

=Ottomatix= wrote:
Any tips you might have would be great. I only have 2 screws at the moment, so I will have to be a quick learner

For starters make sure the screw is long enough to reach all the way to the LED module and properly secure the module. If your screw is long enough the covertech knob should be loose! If not , you'll need a longer screw. If your hardware is long enough and the covertech is loose, remove the screw and start to file it down. Go slowly with this and refit the screw until the covertech knob has just the slightest amount of wiggle. The screw is now at the ideal lenght to secure the LED module. Cut a small piece of electric tape. Approximately the size of a pencil tip or the size of a capital (V). Use blue Thread lock in the hole for the retention screw. Place the piece of tape underneath the head of the screw, this will serve as a washer to force the covertech knob tightly to the hilt. I've tried to make this understandable, plz read it through and let me know if it make sense. Ask questions if some parts a vague.

Great Sabers! I love the Bastion! I have to apologize though...I did bid on that auction if it was the same auction...only once though...sorry about that.

I think it made it's way to its rightful owner. Those look great together!

hawkm wrote:
At the moment it doesn't. But I'm pretty sure I could use a couple of c-clips and maybe a bit of water tape to secure the extender it so that it does line up.

I'm sure this has been covered somewhere, but what are the threads SF uses on the retention screws?

8-32?

Love the look of the Bastion with the thumb screws.

Yup, 8-32 for the threads.

Details please on where you ordered the thumb screws for the bastions and your awesome jedi tunic.

I LOVE the staff idea with the bastions. That was my first thought when the bastion was introduced and i saw the emitter.

TCSS has quite a few 8-32 thumb screws, as well as various hardware stores.

I'm wondering how a Faux Graflex button switch would look in place of one of those brass thumb screws? I've seen them in 10-32 but not 8-32 so not sure anyone even makes one, but could be an interesting look/accent

I've only ever seen Graflex bits in 10-32, but you could potentially enlarge and tap the holes for 10-32 if that was your plan.

TCSS indeed has a lot of 8-32, your local Home Depot, Lowes, or other hardware store will also have a ton of these.

My Purple Bastion is apparently out for delivery... Feels like Christmas....

BoostinIX wrote:
On a semi related note, I emailed TCSS about whether any of the Graflex pin sets they sell work with the 2.0 kit, and Tim replied saying they didn't, and that Parks/Korbanth went with a different thread size for some reason. Though he did mention the 1" blade holder TCSS is making will work with the pins they sell.

I asked because after spinning my Graflex for a bit the other day I noticed when I went to put it back on the shelf one of the pins is missing, and I haven't got a clue where it is.


EDIT: BTW I really like your avatar Jas-Ot